EU leaders push to speed up migrant deportations

EU leaders are pushing for quicker ways to deport people amid a broader push to crack down on immigration, according to a draft report obtained by POLITICO.

The leaders plan to press the bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission, to come up with new guidelines on deportations when they meet in Brussels on Oct. 17, the draft report of their conclusions reads.

“The European Council calls for determined action at all levels to increase and speed up returns from the European Union,” the draft obtained by POLITICO reads. “It invites the Commission and Council to swiftly put forward a new common approach on returns.”

EU leaders are pushing for a tougher approach to migration amid a surge in support for conservative and far-right parties across the bloc, and as they prepare to meet in Brussels next week.

One of the main requests from EU capitals is to clarify the legal framework surrounding deportations of migrants to countries outside the European Union. The Commission put forward a new framework for deportations, known as the Directive on Returns, in 2018 but it never made it to the European Parliament due to political opposition that would have killed it.

Now that the European Parliament is more right-leaning, some leaders believe a new directive could pass a vote in the chamber.